Nathalie Normandeau unflinching in defence of her decisions during Charbonneau questioning

Monique Muise, THE GAZETTE06.18.2014

In her testimony before the Charbonneau Commission on Wednesday, June 18, 2014, former Quebec deputy premier Nathalie Normandeau said that her discretionary power to increase a subsidy was sometimes the only thing that allowed a municipality to successfully finance a project. That power was “a counterbalance to the power of civil servants,” Normandeau said.

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MONTREAL — She knew her chief of staff was friends with an executive at a powerful engineering firm that did business with the province, but not that the two were “like family.”She knew the Quebec Liberal Party engaged in sectoral financing — approaching engineering firms and asking for donations from their employees — but not that the companies were illegally reimbursing those donations.

She knew executives from those same engineering firms attended her political fundraisers in hopes of earning favours down the line, but she never gave them what they wanted.

In the end, the highly anticipated testimony of former deputy-premier Nathalie Normandeau on Wednesday boiled down to series of half-admissions. After three years out of the spotlight, Normandeau appeared to have lost none of her political savvy — strongly denouncing the alleged wrongdoing that went on under her watch but stopping short of admitting that she was involved in that wrongdoing.

Appearing relaxed and confident, Normandeau came armed with plenty of notes and was unflinching in her defence of the decisions she made during her time in the Liberal cabinet. She confirmed that she increased provincial subsidies on 32 municipal projects against the advice of her staff, but noted that the 32 files represented just a small fraction of the 708 subsidized projects that she signed off on during her time as municipal affairs minister.

Every one of those subsidies was justified, the former MNA for Bonaventure said, adding that in certain situations her discretionary power to increase provincial funding was the only thing that allowed a municipality to complete a project.

That power was “a counterbalance to the power of civil servants,” she explained, “and it needs to be used with discretion, judgment and common sense.”

Asked if she ever pressured her staff to move a project ahead more quickly, Normandeau said she may have spoken to them about certain files “with the expectation of a positive response.”

“I don’t call that pressure. I call that doing my job as minister.”

By 11 a.m., Normandeau had barely broken a sweat on the stand. But as the day wore on, the questions got tougher.

Initially very calm, the witness became increasingly animated — even indignant — as inquiry chief counsel Sonia LeBel began asking her about fundraising activities and her former chief of staff, Bruno Lortie.

Normandeau said she placed enormous trust in Lortie, and that she always believed him to be “rigorous, competent, and hardworking.” But testimony heard in recent weeks at the inquiry has cast doubt on her view of her former right-hand man, she noted, and it has become clear that he had a close relationship with former MNA-turned engineering firm consultant Marc-Yvan Côté.

“I knew they were close. I did not know they were that close,” Normandeau told the commissioners, adding that if Lortie was funnelling information to Côté’s employer, Roche, then it was “inexcusable.”

“I would have fired him on the spot. ... I hope Mr. Lortie did not betray my trust.”

Normandeau described the use of straw-man donors to circumvent Quebec’s political financing rules as “revolting” and “a perversion.”

While sectoral financing was a common practice in provincial politics, Normandeau testified, she had no reason to suspect the money flowing in from individual donors was actually coming from the companies that employed them. Between 1998 and 2011, employees of the four largest engineering firms in the Gaspé region contributed over $76,000 to Normandeau’s local riding association. Roche’s employees were by far the most generous, the inquiry heard, and became more generous after she was named minister of municipal affairs in 2005.

Confronted with the numbers, the witness called them “troubling,” but maintained that she never granted favours or subsidies in exchange for political donations.

“I always built a wall between my role as a Liberal party member and my duties as a minister,” Normandeau said repeatedly. She denied that she had any kind of relationship with construction boss Lino Zambito (who famously sent her 40 roses on her 40th birthday) and acknowledged that should not have accepted tickets to a Céline Dion concert from Zambito in 2008.

Before being dismissed, the former deputy-premier thanked Justice France Charbonneau for giving her the opportunity to address the inquiry.

“For two years, my honesty and integrity have been questioned,” Normandeau said, adding that she was happy to provide her version of the facts.

Officials at the Charbonneau Commission have not released the name of the next witness.

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